Section I: Avestan

The Avestan alphabet, traditionally used for transcribing the Zoroastrian liturgical language of Avestan, was by in large one of the more popular scripts at the time of the Sasanian Empire. Pazend, a variant of the Avestan alphabet, was later used for transcribing Middle Persian, used for Middle Persian commentaries of the Avesta. Note that since Pazend is a phonetic alphabet (in contrast to the Pahlavi script, which is an abjad alphabet,) it is preferable for those starting off with Middle Persian to begin with Avestan.

Lesson 3 - Avestan Avestan Clusters, Numbers and Writing

Section II: Pazend

Pazend is a variant of the Avestan alphabet, which was used for writing in Middle Persian for commentaries of the Avesta. Pazend is a phonetic alphabet (in contrast to the Pahlavi script, which is an abjad alphabet,) so reading in Pazend is far simpler than Pahlavi.

Lesson 4 - Introduction to Pazend

Lesson 5 - Āfrīn ī Zardušt

Lesson 6 - Liturgical Text Practice

Lesson 7 - Transcribing I

Lesson 8 - Transcribing II

Section III: Pahlavi

Lesson 9 - Book Pahlavi Orthography

Lesson 10 - High Frequency Ideograms

Lesson 11 - Xusrow ud Rēdag

Lesson 12 - Šāyest nē Šāyest

Lesson 13 - Andarz ī Ādurbād ī Māraspandān

Lesson 14 - Bundahišn

Lesson 15 - Dēnkard

Lesson 16 - Arda Wīraz Nāmag

Lesson 17 - Mādayān ī Hazār Dādestān

Lesson 18 - Pahlavi in-depth Review

Section IV: Manichaean

Lesson 19 - Manichaean Alphabet

Lesson 20 - Manichaean Excerpt I

Lesson 21 - Manichaean Excerpt II

Lesson 22 - Manichaean Excerpt III

Section V: Conclusion

Lesson 23 - Comparative Analysis

Lesson 24 - Transition to Early Modern Persian + Resources